Music. Local heroes.

Pegboy Has Two Reasons For Singing `Auld Lang Syne'

December 31, 1999|By Rick Reger. Special to the Tribune.

There will be plenty of rock 'n' roll New Year's celebrations around town Friday night, but only one show will signify something more than the usual loud, liquefied, end of the year revelry. Anyone who's at Exit around midnight will get to see Pegboy -- one of the city's oldest and most accomplished punk bands -- in a rare live performance at what was once Chicago's premier punk club.

But the show will be poignant for other reasons, as well. It will apparently be one of Pegboy's final performances.

"We're done," laments guitarist and band founder John Haggerty. "Enough is enough. We're not moving forward career-wise at this point. So, we'll do a few more live shows here and there, but that's about it."

If and when Haggerty officially calls it quits, it will mark the end of one of punk's most musically rewarding careers. Haggerty began his run in the early '80s with Naked Raygun, a band that went on to make some of the most bracing, hard-hitting and substantive rock of that decade. Pegboy -- which Haggerty launched in 1990 -- has only added to that legacy of bruising yet melodic music.

Through it all, says Haggerty, Exit was a constant.

"I go all the way back with Exit. When it first opened in Lincoln Park, we (Naked Raygun) started playing there. We go back to the beginning."

Though Pegboy's music has remained impeccably tough and infectious, shifting musical fads have rendered it less commercially viable. As a result, Haggerty admits the upcoming Exit show will be fun but bittersweet. Still, it won't diminish his memories of the venue.

"I remember one Naked Raygun show there where (lead singer) Jeff (Pezzati) threw his microphone over a rafter in order to climb up the chord. But when he got to the top, the chord broke, and he slammed down to the stage flat on his back. The crowd loved it, but he was knocked almost completely senseless. Somehow, he kept on singing."

One wishes Pegboy could keep on singing, too.

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Pegboy will perform about midnight Friday at Exit, 1315 W. North Ave. 773-395-2700.